Luminous attachment for the cover plate of vehicle locks



y 1952 B. HEINZ 2,598,375

LUMINOUS ATTACHMENT FOR THE COVER PLATE OF VEHICLE LOCKS Filed Aug. 14, 1950 INVENTOR Bernard He 2'12 1 BY #M ATTORNEXj Patented May 27, 1952 LUMINOUS ATTACHIWENT FGR THE CSVER PLATE OF VEHICLE LOCKS Bernard Heinz, Scranton, Pa. Application August 14, 1950, Serial No. 179,353

1 Claim.

This invention relates to a luminous attachment or part adapted for mounting on or in the cover plate of a vehicle door lock.

An object of this invention is to provide a luminous attachment which is constructed to hold radium or other luminous material and to provide a luminous guide for the key in inserting the key in the door lock.

In one form of this invention the attachment is cemented or otherwise firmly secured to the cover plate for the door lock; whereas, in the modified form of this invention the device is provided with a clip or clamping means engageable with the cover plate so as to firmly secure the luminous key guide to the cover plate.

With the above and other objects in View, my invention consists in the arrangement, combination and details of construction disclosed in the drawings and specification, and then more particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a detailed front elevation of a luminous attachment constructed according to an embodiment of this invention mounted on the cover plate of a door lock.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary plan view partly in section of the device.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a detailed front elevation of a modified form of this invention.

Figure 5 is a detailed end elevation of the structure shown in Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 66 of Figure 4.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral I designates generally a door lock for a vehicle which is provided with an escutcheon plate I l of substantially tear drop configuration. A cover plate I2 is pivotally secured to the escutcheon II and is spring pressed to a normal lock barrel covering position. The cover plate I2 is formed in the upper edge thereof with an arcuate cutout 13 which provides a guide for the key and assists in the downward swinging of the cover plate to facilitate the insertion of the key in the keyhole of the lock barrel [4. An arcuate holder generally designated as is secured to the outer side of the cover plate l2 and is formed of a pair of longitudinally curved walls [6 and I1. The wall [6 is provided with a concave upper side following the configuration of the arcuate cutout l3. The holder I5 also includes a bottom wall ll which is adapted to be cemented or otherwise firmly secured as indicated at 18 to the cover plate [2.

A receptacle i9 is disposed within the holder 15 and is formed of an arcuate bottom wall having marginal flanges 2 l. A luminous material 22 such as radium or the like is disposed within the receptacle [9, and this material 22 is preferably formed of radium or the like. Cushion member 23 in the form of cork or the like is interposed between the receptacle l9 and the bottom wall ll of the holder [5. A transparent segmental panel 25 engages over the outer side of the receptacle I9 and the panel 25 is firmly secured against the receptacle 19 by crimping 25 of the outer edges of the walls It and ll of holder l5.

Referring now to Figures 4, 5, and 6 there is disclosed a luminous holder l5a which is identical with the holder E5. The holder l5a is secured to a clip member 26 by fastening means 21 in the form of rivets or the like. The clip member 26 embodies a relatively thin resilient plate 28 which is formed with a pair of clamping fingers 29 on the upper edge thereof and is also formed with a clamping flange 30 on the lower edge thereof.

I claim:

In combination, a spring-pressed cover plate for a door lock having an arcuate cutout in one edge thereof, a segmental holder including flanges extending inwardly toward each other from the arcuate edges thereof fixed to said plate with the concave side thereof flush with said cutout, a segmental receptacle in said holder, a cushion element in said holder, a luminous element seated on said cushion element in said receptacle, and a transparent member in said holder overlying said luminous element and engaging on the outer side of said receptacle, said flanges securing said transparent member and hence said luminous element, cushion element and receptacle in said holder.

BERNARD HEINZ.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 948,446 Hausdorfer et al. Feb. 8, 1910 1,386,241 Deck Aug. 2, 1921 1,502,582 Neidig July 22, 1924 1,648,251 Zygmunt Nov. 8, 1927 2,032,540 La Hodny et a1 Mar. 3, 1936 2,201,127 Schechter May 14, 1940 2,213,814 Jacobi Sept. 3, 1940 

